Today I am reviewing the DT-326B LED Stroboscope from Shimpo. The DT-326 LED’s primary operation is to measure speed (RPM) and frequency (Hz) for motion and vibration analysis. The DT-236 is designed for preventative and predictive maintenance on motors, shafts, roto-gravure printing, extruders, blow molding, wire lettering and striping, engraving, pulse jets, water jets, fans, cams, gear teeth, belt inspections, audio/speakers, fuel injectors, vibration analysis and cutting blade timing and sharpness.

This unit is very portable and ergonomically fits in the user’s hand. It is great for quick testing without needing to carry some of the larger, heavier stroboscope models. The DT-326B has a plethora of great features. Firstly, there are phase shift buttons to adjust the flash rate higher or lower with intuitive “+” and “-” buttons, in addition to the “1/2” and “X2” buttons. Secondly, the unit can operate via a direct AC adapter or 4 AA batteries making it extremely versatile. When running on batteries, the unit also features an innovative “ECO mode” button to ensure longer battery life. Lastly, the DT-326 features a broad flash range from 60-120,000 flashes per minute that can be applied to almost any high-speed application.”

Using the Shimpo DT-326B is very simple. First, a piece of reflective tape must be applied to a specific blade, gear, etc. of the machine being measured.  Then, the user may operate the machine as normal, while adjusting the DT-326’s flash rate using the phase shift buttons until the reflective tape appears frozen in motion. There can be a lot of tweaking involved in this stage, but the intuitive phase shift buttons make it easy. For instance, the reflective tape may appear frozen even at half RPM. Pressing the “X2” button to double the flash rate is the perfect way to make sure the correct RPM value is displayed in this scenario. If the flash rate is too high, the reflective tape will appear as 2, 3, 4, etc. pieces depending on how much the flash rate is in comparison to the machine’s current RPM. Once again, the phase shift controls make this easy to resolve.

Which feature do you find the most useful? Let us know in the comments!